StormingTexan

Brandon has said he likes romance so I see why he includes it but I agree it’s not his strong suit. I honestly rate the romance least amongst things I care about in SA. I actually like romance in books but we really don’t see it done in these books very well so I have a hard time caring. Not knocking Brandon he is so great at so many things it would be unfair if he was great at this too. It’s something he may improve on which I would not be surprised at all to see after I’ve seen him grow in so many areas. In paticular I wouldn’t believe in any relationship Kaladin is in. He still has to learn to love himself before he could love anyone else. Brandon is however good at showing love between family and especially brothers at arms so I tend to care about that a lot more in the books.

I re-read part 5 and it was much better the second time. Really helped to read it with out all the "what is going to happen next" anticipation. It still feels dizzying with all the POV switches during the battle.

Dang I misspelled weakness lol

Man I read this wrong completely if it was Odium. I thought the voice was the envoy spren telling the fused spren they were already claiming her but on second thought does not seem like a fused spren would yield to an envoy so must have been Odium.

Yeah the "WE" confused the heck out of me. I don't buy the Evi angle I think that was just the final realization Dalinar needed to become "Unity". It seems pretty clear to me Dalinar manifested Honor's power here at least temporarily and this scared Odium off. It was surprising to the SF as well he did not know it was possible. I still do not know who the "WE" is.. It could be as simple as the forces of Odium he and his unmade/fused. I guess it could be another shard as well.

Yeah when I read that it made me think of Lightsong's painting and went back to read the description. Both of their experiences viewing the painting are very similar. Oh and then what the shopkeeper says pretty much seals the deal at the very least it is from the court of gods on Nalthis.

Me too and I sing the song in my head!

Dang I keep forgetting this! So that painting that Kaladin looks at in the spren market... Sure is similar to this one.. Clearly Nightblood stole it and that is why Vivenna is after him

Oathgate tariffs!

Well dang I'm kinda bummed was hoping for Szeth's book next.

All right so this is a good point. I guess I thought SA would be a little more like WoT with a much slower building story since we are only at book 3 of 10 and then bam all these mysteries are revealed that I thought would take several more books to answer (granted we are left with plenty still). Then the battle Odium taking over humans selecting Dalinar as his champion seemed like book 5 stuff to me. So yeah this may be part of it the story is just moving a lot faster than I thought it would. I think a re-read of part 5 (which I am currently doing) could make me appreciate it more as I do not have the same level of anticipation on how it will end and can handle the whirlwind of action better.

I agree the third is the giant water spren that I don't know how to spell their name. I originally assumed it was one from each Shard but I think from the SF comments that is wrong however the Honor and Cultivation used them as their avatars. Interesting though didn't the giant thing that brought the Thrill to the battle come from the sea? Could Odium have corrupted the giant water spren?

Read this part of the book twice now and didn't pick this up nice catch! Jasnah certainly seems the furthest along to me or I should say the most comfortable using her abilities in a battle situation so i could easily see her at the 4th oath. I loved all her scenes in the battle. Btw I am a North American English speaker and it read the same as the way Brandon intended to me. As basically unconcerned (which would have been a better word to use it seems lol).

I think Brandon got everyone on that. I was laughing as it happened then was like oh Jasnah that makes a lot more sense.

I'm one of the ones that was disappointed with the lack of consequences and a lot it is probably just the build up of anticipation over a few years. It seemed like such a major part of the plot and source of tension then just kind of fizzled out in OB. I agree the more I look at it there are consequences. I don't think he wanted to be king regardless so the only real one was Dalinar loosing faith which is extremely hypocritical I might add and I bet short lived if he applies his own most recent oath to his son as well. It was basically just a little lackluster but hey if that is the direction Brandon wanted to take then it is his call. If I read this right in the book the entire reason Odium was able to bond with his army was the fact they believed Dalinar killed their highprince so I don't see how this is a point of forgiveness. Would this have even happened if he wasn't murdered by Adolin?

Jasnah was awesome in the battle. Another note is I felt like the explanation for the Recreance was pretty lack luster. She did say that Hoid told her about it so hoping we find out more truth about it from her later.

As well as humans. So what doesn't make sense to me is human invaders showed up before any of the shards? If so how? Unless the humans Brandon was referring to was a pocket of native docile humans and the invading force came latter. That doesn't make sense though either because the Listeners seemed to describe them as new comers to the planet. So it seems all this took place before the shards arrived.

Yeah kind of takes away mans free will in a sense luckily he learned it can be changed. The Vorin see Cultivation as a pagan God right? The one thing I was really hoping to learn more about in OB was Cultivation.. I guess next book.

R.I.P. Shalladin..

So I can be a little dense sometimes picking up subtle things but was Ash destroying art depicting her because of her guilt of sending Taln to uphold the Oathpact himself? Like she didn’t want herself to be seen as someone to worship? Also regarding Taln what was Brandon’s comments about him possible not being the person he claimed to be all about? It seems pretty apparent from Ash that he is Taln... Did I miss something or are we just not know enough about him yet? Btw his one coherent line was amazing. I really want to undestand why he wasn’t supposed to be a Herald.

Well of course I want him to fight he’s awesome! But he didn't try to assasinate my nephew or myself and try to kill the captain of my personal guard. I think it’s awesome that Szeth chose his oath to Dalinar and maybe Dalinar can sense the truth in it or something I don’t know.

I went back and re-read this. In the context he said it he was counting 7- Lift, Szeth, Dalinar, Jasnah, Renarin, Kaladin and Shallan. Then Ash and Taln making it 9. I know there is a lot of speculation that Ash will become a Dustbringer but I see no evidence this has happened or should even be suspected in-world so that leaves two missing Orders Willshapers and Dustbringers. I know Venli is probably a Willshaper but I think the bond happens after this scene plus in the context I do not think he’s including her regardless. So the 10 was not orders unless I’m missing something.

This book felt a lot more segmented than the previous two between the parts. Not a bad thing but it makes me want to rate the parts separately. I'd give parts 1-4 an average of 9. The best of those being part 2 and 4. I loved the Bridge 4 POV and the tour through the Shadesmar was awesome. We learned a lot and while some reveals seemed a little underwhelming others caused my jaw to drop. I could go on and on but I will stop now. Unfortunately part 5 I would give a 6. It felt way to chaotic. So much was going on at the same time and there were some amazing moments but way to much crammed together. Dalinar's Ascension felt a little deus ex machina. An enemy assassin that they thought was dead is casually welcomed in to the fold. As much as I didn't care for Amaram the entire turning him in to a monster thing felt odd. The shining lights of the part were Jasnah, Adolin and Renarin. So all in all I enjoyed most of it and would give it a 8/10.

Completely agree about Szeth as well. You brought up a good point about the other Kingdoms as well. He would be considered a criminal by many but I don't know how many understand he is the assassin in white.